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Technology Is a Dead Bird (album)
Technology Is a Dead Bird is the debut studio album by Mars Argo. It was released independently to Bandcamp on November 6, 2009."Technology is a Dead Bird by Mars Argo". Bandcamp. November 6, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2018. Background In early 2008, singer-songwriter Brittany Sheets and video director Corey Mixter began dating after meeting on MySpace, and started to collaborate on video content for YouTube and Vimeo, with Mixter adopting the pseudonym Titanic Sinclair and Sheets later becoming Mars Argo, which also became the name of their band as a whole. The duo wiped all of their early content off of the internet once YouTube instated their guidelines against copyright infringement, producing new videos as grocerybagdottv with original background music. They decided to become an official band after positive reception to their music by online commenters."Mars Argo are Done Being Cool - Watch Their New Video For "Runaway, Runaway"". Noisey. February 14, 2013. Retrieved May 18, 2018. Release and promotion Argo and Sinclair began recording a series of piano concept demos in October, 2008, some of which later developing into full length songs such as "Welcome to the Future" and "Electric Car". The album's title was first announced in the video "Paper Airplane", a Video Blog episode revealing an early instrumental for a later scrapped song from the record, "You Have a Lot of Work to Do", on March 12, 2009. Demos and instrumental versions of other songs recorded for the album were previewed in similar uploads from that year. A music video for "Tired Today" was debuted on March 18, 2009,"GROCERYBAG.TV". Grocerybag. March 18, 2009. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved on May 18, 2018. using an alternate version of the song with a guitar-only ending. Similar music videos were released for "The Singularity is Near" and "Monsters Under My Bed" on July 10 and September 9 of that year respectively, intended as trailers to promote the album."The Singularity is Near". YouTube. July 10, 2009. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2018."Monsters Under My Bed". YouTube. September 9, 2009. Archived from the original on April 9, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2018. The album was released to Bandcamp on November 6, 2009,"Technology is a Dead Bird by Mars Argo". Bandcamp. November 6, 2009. Retrieved May 18, 2018. as well as to iTunes on November 22.@marsargo (November 22, 2009). Mars Argo on Facebook. Retrieved May 19, 2018 – via Facebook."Technology Is a Dead Bird by Mars Argo". iTunes. November 6, 2009. Archived from the original on May 26, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2018. Footage of the cover photoshoot was used in a short teaser video, "MARSARGO DOT BANDCAMP DOT COM", posted on the initial album release date. An instrumental-only edition of the album was released on December 11,"Technology is a Dead Bird (Instrumental) | Mars Argo". Bandcamp. December 11, 2009. Retrieved May 19, 2018. promoted with the video "Our Songs in Your Videos" and, as referenced, intended to be played in the background of fellow YouTubers' uploads under a CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 license. A music video for the song "Mrs. Stadler" was filmed about one year later, featuring cinematography by Matthew Franklin and Tony Katai, and was released on November 11, 2010."Mars Argo - Mrs. Stadler (OFFICIAL VIDEO)". YouTube. November 11, 2010. Archived from the original on May 27, 2011. Retrieved May 18, 2018. At some point following the band's permanent hiatus, the album was removed from sale on iTunes, making it a Bandcamp-exclusive release. However, other releases uploaded to iTunes remain intact. Internet Sessions Argo and Sinclair began releasing acoustic performance videos of songs shortly before the album release, beginning with "Machine" on October 14, 2009, and continued with "Suicide Birds" on December 17. Videos for live acoustic demos of previously unreleased song "Electric Car" and a rewritten "Technology Is a Dead Bird" at Groovemaster Studios were also uploaded in June 2010."Mars Argo - Electric Car (Live Acoustic)". YouTube. June 5, 2010. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved May 19, 2018. All four of these recordings were later gathered and released in an audio-only format as the Internet Sessions EP on August 18."Internet Sessions | Mars Argo". Bandcamp. August 18, 2010. Archived from the original on October 17, 2010. Retrieved May 18, 2018. Critical reception Reviews of Technology Is a Dead Bird were mixed. Charlie O'Shea of Indie Music Finds wrote an article about the album on the day of its release, praising it's "subtly haunting" music style.O'Shea, Charlie (November 6, 2009). "Mars Argo – Technology is a Dead Bird". Indie Music Finds. Retrieved May 18, 2018. Chris Coplan of Consequence of Sound reviewed the album one month after it came out, giving it a C- score and somewhat admiring the dynamic between the duo on "Mrs. Stadler" and the title track, but criticizing "Machine" and "Tired Today".Coplan, Chris (December 30, 2009). "Mars Argo – Technology is a Dead Bird". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 18, 2009. Track listing Outtakes * "Electric Car" * "Moot" * "Welcome to the Future" * "You Have a Lot of Work to Do" Personnel Credits * Mars Argo - vocals; piano; guitar * Titanic Sinclair - vocals; guitar; production * Jesse Meyer - additional production (track 2) * Justin McGrath - additional production (track 8) Gallery References Category:Albums Category:Band releases